Ad643 Bg Project Leadership And Communication
Jennifer DiTomasso Jacobsen
U63594427
AD643 BG, Project Leadership and Communications
Professor Star Dargin
Homework Two
Questions two and three on page 83 of the Gray and Larson text, and questions one and two on page 96
2. You work for LL Company, which manufactures high-end optical scopes for hunting rifles. LL Company has been the market leader for the past 20 years and has decided to diversify by applying its technology to develop a top-quality binocular. What kind of project management structure would you recommend they use for this project? What information would you like to have to make this recommendation, and why?
First, I would want to know what type of organizational structure is already in place, and what type of …show more content…
project management structure has been used in the past. If they are a purely functional organization, and have never operated within a matrix structure, for example, I might not want to pursue that option, since the culture shock of reporting to more than one boss might be counter-productive for employees.
Second, I would want to assess whether or not they have the core competency to develop binoculars.
If not, then I would consider using a using a virtual structure, in order to outsource the technical needs of the project to those with the requisite technical ability already in place.
Third, I would want to diagnose the culture of the organization. In general, I would want to determine how cooperative the people are. Metrics for measuring the organization’s culture are included on page 79 of the Gray and Larson text, including:
• Member identity: whether employees identify with their jobs or with their …show more content…
organization
• Team emphasis: how much activities are organized around the group, or around the individual
• People focus: whether work is task-oriented or people oriented
• Unit integration: whether units within the organization or independent or interdependent
• Control: how much rules govern the behavior of employees
• Risk tolerance: how much freedom employees have to pursue activities for the organization that are not certain to have a positive outcome (profit, for example)
• Reward criteria: how much employee performance affects their financial rewards, versus other factors, like seniority, being considered instead
• Conflict tolerance: how much freedom employees have to openly discuss conflict or criticism
• Means-end orientation: how much management focuses on the end result, versus the process used to achieve that end result
• Open-system focus: how much the organization is aware of changes in the external environment, or how much they are focused internally instead, and how responsive they are to external changes
Other methods I would want to use in order to identify the cultural characteristic of the organization are included on page 77 of the Gray and Larson text:
• Study the physical characteristics of an organization
• Read about the organization
• Observe how people interact within the organization
I would want to have information about all of these cultural characteristics about the organization so that I could assess how comfortable employees might be with a matrix organization, a purely project-based organizational structure, or with a functional organization structure. How comfortable they are with any one of those organizational structures will have a direct, significant impact on how effective the organizational structure will be, and subsequently, how well the project is implemented. If people identify with their jobs more than with the organization, if they unit integration is very independent, and if the team emphasis is on the individual, rather than on the group, then operating within a purely functional organization structure might be counterproductive. A functional matrix, at least, would put a project manager in charge of the project, although employees would still be primarily reporting to their functional manger, and might adopt the attitude that what the project manager wants them to do is secondary to the ‘work’ that they have to do. If I found that the organization was receptive to it, a balanced matrix organization structure would be a better choice, since the project manager would be in charge of assigning work, and the employees would therefore feel a stronger ownership of the project work.
A project matrix or dedicated project team would give the project manager even more control over the project, although, in addition to how cooperative of an organization it is, I would want to know how time-critical this project is, how much resources it will take, in terms of percentages of employees’ time, and how much of a priority this project is, before recommending either of those two organization structures.
3. Going to college is analogous to working in a matrix environment in that most students take more than one class and must distribute their time across multiple classes. What problems does this create for you? How does it affect your performance? How could the system be better managed to make your life less difficult and more productive?
The multiple ‘bosses,’ or teachers, have no idea what their counterparts have assigned, what time constraints they have placed on students, or what the other deadlines that they have given are. This inevitably forces students to devote less time to assignments, or to studying for exams, than would be most effective for them. The system could be better managed by scheduling classes as they are in the BU Global program, where students have only one course at a time. Or, if classes were scheduled in blocks, with staggered start times and end times, and subsequently with staggered midterm and final exams, students could devote their time more effectively to one subject at a time.
1. What are the mechanisms that are used to sustain the culture of an organization?
The mechanisms that are discussed on pages 93-96 of the Gray and Larson text are as follows:
• Formal statement of principles o Objectives o Vision o Core values
• Top management behavior
• Reaction to crisis
• Allocation of rewards and status
• Rituals, stories and symbols
• Organizational rituals
• Stories, myths, and legends
• Material symbols
• Removal of deviants
2. Which mechanism do you believe has the biggest effect on the culture of an organization and why?
I believe that the behavior of top management has the biggest effect on the culture of an organization.
It sets the standard for what is and is not done within an organization, and serves as an example for what type of behavior will be rewarded. For example, where I work, at the Office of Information Technology, in the Networked Information Services division, the group on campus that manages the BU Web, our director has us devote a lot of time to maintaining our internal procedures. His idea is that a new employee should be able to read those procedures, starting on his or her first day, and not have to ask anyone anything in order to start working. He verbally criticizes any employee that takes up another employee’s time asking for instructions on how to do something, and demands an explanation of the person that wrote the procedure, about why it was not well enough written. Therefore, the procedures are well maintained, but collaboration is hindered. Employees who ask each other for help typically do so in whispered
voices.
Even the other mechanisms are to a certain degree governed by the actions of top management. For example, the objectives, vision, and core values are set by top management. Even the folklore of an organization may revolve around top management, and may be passed on from CEO to CEO, and subsequently down through the organization.
U63594427
AD643 BG, Project Leadership and Communications
Professor Star Dargin
Homework Two
Questions two and three on page 83 of the Gray and Larson text, and questions one and two on page 96
2. You work for LL Company, which manufactures high-end optical scopes for hunting rifles. LL Company has been the market leader for the past 20 years and has decided to diversify by applying its technology to develop a top-quality binocular. What kind of project management structure would you recommend they use for this project? What information would you like to have to make this recommendation, and why?
First, I would want to know what type of organizational structure is already in place, and what type of …show more content…
project management structure has been used in the past. If they are a purely functional organization, and have never operated within a matrix structure, for example, I might not want to pursue that option, since the culture shock of reporting to more than one boss might be counter-productive for employees.
Second, I would want to assess whether or not they have the core competency to develop binoculars.
If not, then I would consider using a using a virtual structure, in order to outsource the technical needs of the project to those with the requisite technical ability already in place.
Third, I would want to diagnose the culture of the organization. In general, I would want to determine how cooperative the people are. Metrics for measuring the organization’s culture are included on page 79 of the Gray and Larson text, including:
• Member identity: whether employees identify with their jobs or with their …show more content…
organization
• Team emphasis: how much activities are organized around the group, or around the individual
• People focus: whether work is task-oriented or people oriented
• Unit integration: whether units within the organization or independent or interdependent
• Control: how much rules govern the behavior of employees
• Risk tolerance: how much freedom employees have to pursue activities for the organization that are not certain to have a positive outcome (profit, for example)
• Reward criteria: how much employee performance affects their financial rewards, versus other factors, like seniority, being considered instead
• Conflict tolerance: how much freedom employees have to openly discuss conflict or criticism
• Means-end orientation: how much management focuses on the end result, versus the process used to achieve that end result
• Open-system focus: how much the organization is aware of changes in the external environment, or how much they are focused internally instead, and how responsive they are to external changes
Other methods I would want to use in order to identify the cultural characteristic of the organization are included on page 77 of the Gray and Larson text:
• Study the physical characteristics of an organization
• Read about the organization
• Observe how people interact within the organization
I would want to have information about all of these cultural characteristics about the organization so that I could assess how comfortable employees might be with a matrix organization, a purely project-based organizational structure, or with a functional organization structure. How comfortable they are with any one of those organizational structures will have a direct, significant impact on how effective the organizational structure will be, and subsequently, how well the project is implemented. If people identify with their jobs more than with the organization, if they unit integration is very independent, and if the team emphasis is on the individual, rather than on the group, then operating within a purely functional organization structure might be counterproductive. A functional matrix, at least, would put a project manager in charge of the project, although employees would still be primarily reporting to their functional manger, and might adopt the attitude that what the project manager wants them to do is secondary to the ‘work’ that they have to do. If I found that the organization was receptive to it, a balanced matrix organization structure would be a better choice, since the project manager would be in charge of assigning work, and the employees would therefore feel a stronger ownership of the project work.
A project matrix or dedicated project team would give the project manager even more control over the project, although, in addition to how cooperative of an organization it is, I would want to know how time-critical this project is, how much resources it will take, in terms of percentages of employees’ time, and how much of a priority this project is, before recommending either of those two organization structures.
3. Going to college is analogous to working in a matrix environment in that most students take more than one class and must distribute their time across multiple classes. What problems does this create for you? How does it affect your performance? How could the system be better managed to make your life less difficult and more productive?
The multiple ‘bosses,’ or teachers, have no idea what their counterparts have assigned, what time constraints they have placed on students, or what the other deadlines that they have given are. This inevitably forces students to devote less time to assignments, or to studying for exams, than would be most effective for them. The system could be better managed by scheduling classes as they are in the BU Global program, where students have only one course at a time. Or, if classes were scheduled in blocks, with staggered start times and end times, and subsequently with staggered midterm and final exams, students could devote their time more effectively to one subject at a time.
1. What are the mechanisms that are used to sustain the culture of an organization?
The mechanisms that are discussed on pages 93-96 of the Gray and Larson text are as follows:
• Formal statement of principles o Objectives o Vision o Core values
• Top management behavior
• Reaction to crisis
• Allocation of rewards and status
• Rituals, stories and symbols
• Organizational rituals
• Stories, myths, and legends
• Material symbols
• Removal of deviants
2. Which mechanism do you believe has the biggest effect on the culture of an organization and why?
I believe that the behavior of top management has the biggest effect on the culture of an organization.
It sets the standard for what is and is not done within an organization, and serves as an example for what type of behavior will be rewarded. For example, where I work, at the Office of Information Technology, in the Networked Information Services division, the group on campus that manages the BU Web, our director has us devote a lot of time to maintaining our internal procedures. His idea is that a new employee should be able to read those procedures, starting on his or her first day, and not have to ask anyone anything in order to start working. He verbally criticizes any employee that takes up another employee’s time asking for instructions on how to do something, and demands an explanation of the person that wrote the procedure, about why it was not well enough written. Therefore, the procedures are well maintained, but collaboration is hindered. Employees who ask each other for help typically do so in whispered
voices.
Even the other mechanisms are to a certain degree governed by the actions of top management. For example, the objectives, vision, and core values are set by top management. Even the folklore of an organization may revolve around top management, and may be passed on from CEO to CEO, and subsequently down through the organization.